The Tournament
by MelanieGrey001
Summary: Caroline, Rose, James and Albus are all going to their sixth year at Hogwarts. What they don't know is a mysterious rumor is spreading about reliving an old tradition, a tournament on Hogwarts grounds. With Beauxbatons and Durmstrang in the competition only the bravest and most heroic wizard will remain in the end. What would happen if one of the four wanted to compete?
1. Chapter 1- On the Train

**~.~ On The Train ~.~**

Caroline Brooks was wandering around Kings Cross station, pushing a trolley with her very heavy trunk and owl, Snow Flake. Caroline was a witch, and she was nervously waiting for the start of her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She casually made her way to platforms 9 and 10, looking over her shoulder to make sure the muggles wouldn't notice as she disappeared through the barrier between them. Opening her eyes she found herself on the famous platform 9 and ¾. As always it was bustling with students and parents trying to unload heavy trunks onto the Hogwarts Express and desperately searching for lost pets among the crowd.

She simply loved being back into the wizarding world! Summer holidays were pure torture for her. She was a muggle-born after all, and her parents… no, she promised she wouldn't think about them today. It was all about her today, and they weren't going to ruin it, even if in her thoughts. Instead trying to calm her mind she let her gaze sweep the crowd, looking for her best friend, the only person she knew could ease her worries. It was impossible to miss Rose Weasly in a crowd, being a hyper-active red-head. But even so Carol couldn't seem to find her, she turned in a full circle, trying to get a better view of the platform, and doing so she found a boy standing directly behind her. She might have had a chance at giving him a better greeting if she wasn't so clumsy, she tripped over her trunk, which she'd settled on the floor, and if it wasn't for his strong arms she would've made a total fool of herself before they even made it to school. Chuckling lightly and helping her balance herself the boy stepped back and admired her with an amused look.

"There you are!" He said."Do you have any idea how freaked out Rose is? She thought you weren't coming at all, being late as you are. I told her to relax. Said you were probably just lost in the crowd." He winked at her with those charming green eyes. "You do have the nasty habit of getting lost now and then, don't you?"

"Well, you always seem to find me, no matter how lost I am." She replied smiling. "Are you ever going to tell me how?" He picked up her trunk and led her through the crowd as he answered.

"A good magician never reveals his tricks! Isn't that what the muggles say?"

"Yes. But you're not a magician you're a wizard Albus so..." but whatever it was she was going to say was cut off by jumping ball of flaming red hair that pounced on her right then.

"Carol! I'm so glad I found you!" screeched Rosa as she hugged the air out of her friends lungs.

"Hey!" Albus protested. "I was the one that found her, not you!"

"Does that really matter?" She said turning to face him defiantly."Now beat it Al! I want to talk to Carol."

**"**Fine."he grumbled, obviously unsatisfied with being shoved aside by Rose. He picked up Caroline's trunk and started hauling it into the train for her, because as he could see she was going to be very busy handling his cousin.

**"**Come on!" Rose said as she pulled her friend along "Let's go speak to my parents!" They quickly walked through the last students struggling with their luggage and found a couple talking with their son on a quieter side of the station. The woman had large curly brown hair, and her husband was tall and red-haired, family heritage Carol supposed.

The dad kept saying "You're going to make it this time. I know you are!" As he patted his son on the back, although it looked as though he was trying to reassure himself and not the boy. The mother though cut him sharply "But if you don't that's fine! There are more important things then Quidditch at school." And then she leaned over as if to kiss him on the cheek and mumbled a couple of words to him that the girls couldn't figure out. When she stepped back they saw a wide grin spread through the boys handsome features.

"Hey mum!" Rosa greeted "Look who I found!" She said pointing at the girl beside her.

"Hello Caroline, it's been a long time! How are you?" Hermione Weasly, Rose's mother asked.

"I'm fine thanks, just glad to be going back to school I guess." She said simply.

"Well you are coming to our house for Christmas, aren't you?" Mrs. Weasly said hopefully. "It was so lovely last year and..."

"No darling." Her husband quickly intervened, as though she'd let something slip which she wasn't supposed to. "They have… other plans for Christmas this year, remember?" He said giving her a meaningfully glance.

"Oh! That's right, I'd almost forgotten." She said looking around as if to check if anyone was listening, but of course they weren't. They were too busy climbing on to the train, which was preparing to leave.

Mrs. Weasly took that as an excuse as she shoved the three kids aboard the train and gave them all quick goodbyes, ignoring her younger son's protests and questions about what other plans they had. Both girls looked at each other only to find equally puzzled looks on their faces, Carol shrugged as she waved goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasly and the couple that had come to join them. A red-head which resembled , with freckles across her face, and a man with jet black hair and round glasses, the Potters. The two young witches waved frantically at them and they replied as platform 9 and ¾ came out of view, the Express made its first gentle curve.

- What do you think your dad meant when he mentioned other plans? – Caroline asked with a frown, as she tucked a stray lock of chocolate-brown hair behind her ear.

-I have no idea. – Rose replied. – And I've learned over the years not to ask. Sometimes doubt is more tranquilizing then the answer. – She finished poetically. She laughed at the face her friend pulled and tugged her on across the train. – Come on; let's find an empty compartment to sit in!

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It turned out there was no empty compartment for both girls to occupy. The Express was packed and their delay to enter the train, because of the brief talks with the Weasly family summed to Caroline's already tardy arrival, made it so there was nowhere to accommodate both witches other than the compartment which Hugo had occupied as soon as he came in with his cousins.

The problem was Albus was in it. Rose knew that even though he and Carol had displayed a civilized behavior in Kings Cross it would be impossible for them to make it all the way to Hogwarts without one of them hexing the other to China. They were well-known in the Gryffindor common room for their regular fights and disagreements. Heck Rosa didn't know how they managed to make it to their sixth year without one of them ending up in Saint Mungo's. They were really good people, both had the trademark Gryffindor courage in them and the spirit to help others, in anything they might need. But at the same time both of them were so different.

Caroline was more of a bookworm, she liked to be ready and prepared with any information she found useful. She had a steady and organized mind and liked to think and over think and would refuse any but the logical explanation. Albus was the complete opposite, he liked Quidditch, he was a very successful chaser, and the only think he could memorize were sequences of attacks for the match. He was impetuous and acted on impulse and instinct, not really taking time to duel on consequences. But both were stubborn and bossy, and always thought they were right, which led to constant fighting. So putting them together in a compartment from eleven o'clock till nightfall, in which time they'd be arriving in Hogwarts, was a really risky and dangerous situation. But they didn't have much option it was either that or standing the whole trip.

Taking a deep breath the young Weasly led her best friend inside before stepping in herself. She prepared for the worst. It was probably going to be a long ride.

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**A/N:** Thank you for reading, this is my first piece of work and I would really enjoy to hear your comments so please review... Also I feel like writing about these characters in specific is harder then about the original 3, because their personality and all has already been determined, so if you have any input or suggestions about their behavior or so please tell me.** Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter (unfortunately) J. does, so please send her flowers and a box of chocolates, this is a totally fictional story based on my wild imagination!**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Big Announcement

**~.~ The Big Announcement ~.~**

It could have been worse, Rose thought to herself. As soon as they came in Carol greeted James Potter with a smile and an acknowledging nod while he insisted on tormenting his brother by poking him in the ribs, and sat next to Hugo. There had been an awkward silence at first but it had been driven away almost immediately when a six year Slytherin passed their compartment and frowned at them, as if he found the fact they were all sitting together unusual. That would have been fine, after all the four sixth years were used to being judged and gossiped about because of a certain surname that attracted a lot of attention. But this was different, he was a Malfoy. Scorpius glanced quickly in their direction and shot a quizzical look at them before recomposing himself and resuming his stride down the corridor as if nothing had happened.

"Did anybody else notice that Malfoy seemed was very interested in our little reunion today?" James pointed out as soon as the other boy's blonde head disappeared through the glass door of another compartment. "Is that supposed to be normal?"

"Of course not!" Albus replied. "You said it yourself he's a Malfoy, and a Slytherin, and we don't get along with that lot. History made sure of it, and we should respect tradition." He finished with a grumpy but satisfied look on his face.

The other Gryffindors looked around and nodded to agree with him, except Caroline, who was staring out the window pretending she couldn't hear their conversation. The view was amazing, the country side passed quickly on and a flock of birds were circling up ahead, but she was oblivious to it, entirely focused on the debate happening around her, even if she wasn't letting it on.

"Hey, Brooks!" James called her attention "Are you just going to sit there and stare out the window? Wouldn't you mind participating in this civilized conversation on the well-known blonde ghoul?" He teased, and everyone in the compartment laughed but her.

"Carol?" Rose asked with a slight tone of worry in her voice. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." She tranquilized them. "I'm just not so interested in making jokes about any student that passes through the corridor. I'm not that bored yet." She said unconvincingly.

"Any student?" Albus started "I think you're forgetting who we're talking about here. This Scorpius Malfoy, ok? The same boy who gets favoritism from Snervel because his family is crawling with ex-Death Eaters, the same one who makes unforgiving comments about people's blood-status even though it is already a matter dealt with, and that's not to say he is the meanest and most convinced daddy's boy we've ever met!" He concluded earning a few applauses from his cousins and brother. He stared at Caroline in a defying stance.

"That might be," Carol started in a clipping tone "but if you were as good as he is in potions then Snervel might give you more attention too, and even though his family does have a really bad past and he has a huge problem with blood-status does not mean he is completely evil." She finished matching his stare. She was secretly lamenting the direction the conversation had taken.

"Umm… Actually it does!" Albus said, his tone reaching one that alerted the others he and Caroline were in the verge of another dangerous argument "And I couldn't care less about stupid potion classes, especially since it doesn't redeem him for all his bullying on muggle-borns!"

"Well you never had a conversation with the guy before; you're acting on a rash judgment!" She cried with indignation in her voice. Rose was thoroughly regretting coming to sit with her cousins and brother now.

"You've never defended him like this before! What's gotten into you?" Albus yelled "It's not like you know him any better than we do, or like you've actually had a rational conversation with him!" He contorted.

A light blush passed through Caroline's features, it would have been unrecognizable if her skin wasn't so naturally pale. Suddenly Albus looked at her with a stare of pure disbelief and shock, and he turned to face the others searching for similar expressions. What he found was a very unconvincing Rose flipping through a magazine called Witch Monthly, James staring promptly at his feet from which he refused to lift his gaze, and Hugo who was hiding his face in his hands trying to pretend he wasn't there (which was good considering he was a Prefect and would have to give them detention if they started hexing each other, something he didn't want to do). A very tense silence followed, and just as James was about to suggest they played Exploding Snap to pass time and break the ice the door of their compartment opened to reveal Lily Potter.

She came in smiling and tugging on her plait which was, like her cousin's, a fiery red and holding up her Prefect badge for them to see. She was obviously very pleased with herself, probably about to brag, until she saw everybody's expressions, which made her come to a halt.

"Hey" She said "It looks like a funeral in here! What happened?" Albus Potter sent an accusing glare at Carol before he mumbled a couple of incomprehensible words and turned his face to the ceiling. Lily lifted her eyebrows and swept her hazel eyes through them again.

"No way am I going to let you five spend the rest of your trip staring into the open." She said determinedly. "Come on, make space" she shoved Hugo aside and he gave a startled yelp, "we're going to have fun. Whether you want to or not!" Lily said defiantly.

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Albus stared through the window of the moving train as he contemplated the beautiful scenario and landscape that played on the glass. The others were playing a harmless game of Exploding Snap and making small talk about anything that came to their minds, anything that is but a certain Slytherin blonde boy. He still didn't understand why Caroline had defended him so strongly during their argument, she certainly hadn't acted that way over the last five years on the contrary she might have said a couple of harsher things herself about the Malfoy heir. This brought Albus to wonder what might have changed her mind about him. Anguished he decided he'd better not spend too much thought on that, the less he let it bother him the easier it would be to pretend the argument never happened.

He didn't want to fight with Carol this year. He knew that it would be impossible not to argue with her at all, because arguing was just something that they did. Arguing made sense. To differ of course from some other things that he might have felt recently towards the brunette that made no sense at all. But he didn't want to fight her like today on the train; it had been a totally different concept of shouting and yelling because it didn't just hurt his pride. To see her jumping to aid a Malfoy so quickly had made something in his chest twist and freeze over, and it killed him not to know what that meant.

Chasing the troubling thoughts away he trained his mind back to the Express, which reminded him how close to Hogwarts he was. He always loved the school, it had been a sanctuary for him and he felt so welcome and accepted there, and relieved. He had come to terms with the expectations that carrying the Potter surname brought, and was glad that he had lived up to them. It was hard having a famous dad.

He was a bit startled when the old, kind witch passed their compartment with the sweet trolley, but quickly made up for lost time. He stood promptly and said he'd be going out to stock up on some chocolate frogs and licorice wands for them, they received such news with desperate cries and demands of sweets from all the people present. Grinning smartly he stepped out and took his pocket-money and started pulling out all sorts of sweet things from the lady's hand. He had just about finished paying the witch when he heard the noise of a compartment door sliding open. Albus turned his head around and found astonishing chocolate-brown eyes watching him; he saw a twinkle of amusement playing in them that made his insides warm up.

"Hey!" Carol greeted calmly, as she regarded him with gentle smile. He realized there had been some sort of silent agreement passing between them. They would not mention the Malfoy argument again, and he was extremely glad for that. "So do you plan on hogging the cart all to yourself?" asked with cocky smile.

He realized that he'd been standing in front of the trolley and was obviously blocking her passage. He blushed but hid it, stepping aside in a mock chivalry and letting her pass, as she giggled. Albus realized smiling suited her rather well, and it was a very rare occasion he could get one out of her. Generally all he managed were slaps, furious glares and some swearing.

"So how are things working at home?" The boy started a bit nervous. "All well with your parents?"

"I wish," Carol sighed, as she bought pumpkin pastries. "You know it has been six years since I got my first letter and found out I was a witch. I don't know how much longer they're going to pretend it never happened, going to pretend I'm not who I am" She looked longingly out the window as the sky turned violet indicating they were almost at Hogwarts.

"You know you'll always have us don't you?" Albus asked carefully. "You are by all means one of the brightest witches of our school, and an out there Gryffindor. You have a place here." He finished awkwardly wondering if his speech made any sense. All he wanted to do was comfort her, but he was terrible with words. That was her territory.

"I know." She said, as another smile graced her features. "Thanks, Al."

"Umm… you've resigned from Potter?" He said as he smirked.

"No, I chose to leave Potter to when I need to make a point. You tend to pay more attention when I use it. Is it because McGonagall uses it at detention?" Carol looked at him with a false curiosity.

"You miss, are without any doubt the most annoying, self-convinced, stubborn little nerd I've ever met!" He announced playfully as they made their way back with the food to where their friends would still be absorbed in a game of Exploding Snap and perhaps wizard chess. Neither of them noticed the pair of silver eyes that followed them from inside a darker compartment, nor did they hear the bitter "Potter" it muttered.

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The Great Hall was as always packed with students talking cheerfully and excitedly about the start of term, quidditch matches and other plain things. They were all enjoying the beautiful feast that appeared magically on the four long tables, while they heard ghosts complain and moan that they could not eat. A couple of first years were paying close attention as the Bloody-Baron slipped through the walls and tables and students, completely amused by his abilities as ghost. Caroline ate and drank as she talked to her friends and colleagues on the Gryffindor table, but she was very unsettled. For some reason her eyes kept making their way to the teachers table up front and she found herself staring at Elizer Bourbon, their Headmaster.

She'd heard that Dumbledore, the man who Albus was named after, was the best Headmaster Hogwarts had ever seen and possibly the brightest wizard after Merlin's time. She'd read in books that he was a kind man, who believed in the good inside everyone, and that his blues eyes often sparkled with knowledge and wisdom you'd never find elsewhere. She knew The Daily Prophet had gone for weeks saying that no one could ever replace him as a Headmaster equally. They were absolutely right. Elizer was a fat plump man, with tiny black eyes and a bald head. He spoke in barely a whisper, so it was very hard to hear him at all, but it didn't matter because he usually didn't say anything worthwhile hearing. Carol actually questioned herself about how he was appointed Headmaster, because the man had no talent at all, let alone with children.

She was brought back to reality by the sudden quieting of the Hall, even the ghosts seemed to stop and watch as Headmaster Bourbon stepped up, preparing himself to speak as he usually did at the start of the year. But this time it was different. It was as if everyone in the room felt the importance of what he was going to say before he actually did. The room fell to an absolute silence, no forks or knifes made a sound and all goblets were resting on the tables. The man cleared his throat and eyed the crowd, fidgeting with his belt nervously.

"I would like your attention," he said, unnecessarily because every living (and dead) soul in the room had their eyes trained on him "to announce a very important event that will be taking place this year, at Hogwarts grounds. It is an old tradition that was banned a few years ago, and brought back then banned again, for its dangerous principles. I however to not think there is any fundamental to that; it's just healthy competition, for which reason I brought it up to the ministry, who approved my theory. I am happy to declare that this year a champion shall be chosen to represent this school, and earn eternal glory in a contest like no other." He paused for the dramatic effect. "Are any of you familiar with the TriWizard Tournament?"

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**A/N:** Thank you for reading, this is my first piece of work and I would really enjoy to hear your comments so please review... Also I feel like writing about these characters in specific is harder than about the original 3, because their personality and all has already been determined, so if you have any advice or suggestions about their behavior or so please tell me.** disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (unfortunately) J.K.R does, so please send her flowers and a box of chocolates, this is a totally fictional story based on my wild imagination!**


	3. 3- Dragons, Mermaids and Labyrinths

**~.~ Dragons, Mermaids and Labyrinths ~.~**

There was a sudden silence followed by a good amount of chatter and yelling as the Great Hall broke into a chaos like no other. Bourbon tried his best to get the students attentions back on him, but it was no good. It seemed that the news that such tournament was coming back into the school was more interesting than he was. Oh well! In all his time as a Headmaster at Hogwarts (10 years or so) he had never managed to get such a reaction from the student body or the teachers, for that matter. It looked as if nobody believed he could make much of Headmaster after Dumbledore had set expectations so high.

He sighed and swept his eyes through the little confusion he caused. The first years were looking baffled and extremely confused by the older student's behavior to the news, they obviously didn't know what it meant, and the older students on the other hand were freaking out. Some thought it was awesome to have The TriWizard Tournament back and were anxious to hear more, others were panicking at the thought of things. They'd certainly read about previous Tournaments. But that didn't matter, they would get over it. They'd have to. He cleared his throat and found himself marveled when the whole school turned eerily quiet for the second time that night to hear his words.

"Well, the competition will be taking place on our school grounds, and I expect nothing but your best behavior when we greet the other two schools who are participating." Bourbon said "They will arrive for the Halloween Feast, and the Tournament will be opened officially on the first of November. Until then we, staff and professors, won't be speaking of it as a few..." he paused suspiciously "crucial details have not been determined yet." The Headmaster looked again at the little witches and wizards sitting before him, all excited and jumping in their seats. Well most of them anyway. That annoying Brooks girl was looking at him with suspicion, uncertainty, doubt and something that verged fear. He knew she'd give him trouble. He'd deal with her later.

"Off you go!" Bourbon said with a forced smile "Sleep tight! Classes start tomorrow and we don't want any of you to be late, do we?" he continued as he sat in his chair and watched the swarm of kids pushing through the doors to leave. Elizer turned his head to meet McGonagall's stare that pierced through the back of his head, he tried to look confident and convincing but he knew he didn't fool her. She regarded him with cold eyes and a disapproving glare before standing and gathering her things to retreat to her dorm.

"Crazy old bat" he muttered to himself.

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The Gryffindor common room was bustling with students from all ages, all talking excitedly about what was definitely going to be a very busy year. All the previous efforts to make students go to bed, much to Lily's disappointment, had failed miserably. They simply weren't in the mood to be sleeping at the moment; they had more interesting things to do. This upset the prefect entirely; after all she was hoping to be able to speak peacefully with her friends so that she could knock the idea of participating in the Tournament out of her lunatic brother's head! She meant James of course, she was sure that Albus was smart enough to weigh his choices alone, James on the other hand could be very reckless.

She finally gave up on trying to restore order in gryffindor tower and called Hugo, who was hopelessly arguing with a couple of second years to get to their dormitories, to come with her as she sat with their friends. Her brothers, cousin and Caroline were sitting in one of the quietest corners of the common room, which she was extremely glad for, and were discussing in a hushed tone about the TriWizard Tournament. Of course, she and her siblings knew all about it. In fact they knew too much. Mr. Potter had told them this story millions of times. He spoke of fighting dragons to capture a golden egg, rescuing friends from the grasps of mermaids and mermen in the lake and of course running through a labyrinth only to find yourself holding a dead friend's body and watching as the darkest wizard of all time rises from your own blood. Yes, the Potters had a bad past with tournaments, but it was absolutely useless trying to point that out to James.

"I don't really see the reason for all this fuss Lily," he argued "it's not like Voldemort is going to try to come back to life again and put me in mortal danger during a task. He's already dead!"

"Voldemort doesn't need to be reborn to make this Tournament dangerous James," Caroline pointed out in a tone that suggested she was talking to a little kid "the competition is incredibly perilous, people died in the past because of it! And all for what, a stupid tro-"

"Hold on." Albus interrupted "It's not about the trophy, it's about glory." He said as if that made it all much more reasonable "We're talking about eternal glory!"

Carol looked at him as if to say **_"Don't-encourage-your-immature-brother-in-this!" _**and turned to Lily asking for help "Will you please convince James that entering that contest is suicide!"

"I've tried my best." She said in her defense "If his head was any thicker they would have to make it into a bludger!"

"No quidditch related comments, please." Hugo said appearing to be very exhausted after his first day as a Prefect. "There is no way I'm ever watching a match of that stupid game ever again!"

"Hold up a second," James said as if his cousin was showing signs of being mentally disturbed "I know you guys might have a problem with the Tournament and all, but that gives you no reason" He said looking at Hugo "to take it out on poor quidditch! What's got you in such a foul mood?"

"Dad has been giving him a hard time about being picked to play for gryffindor." Rose explained "The way he acts about it you would think he was actually a good player in his time!" she finished in an annoyed tone.

"And he wasn't?" Carol asked curiously.

"He was crap!" the red-head announced unceremoniously. "But you won't have to worry about it bro, with a competition like this I'm sure they'll suspend the quidditch competition throughout the year."

"What?" James said an incredibly disappointed look in his deep hazel eyes "No quidditch this year?"

"Getting back to the problem at hand," said Lily glaring at her brothers "you both are out of your right mind! This kind of competition will accomplish nothing other than put you in harm's way and give mum a heart attack, so please try to be rational for once in your life James!" and having finished she stood up and announced she was going to bed, after all their classes started tomorrow, and advised them to do all the same. One by one they lifted themselves off the couch and armchairs and up to their beds.

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Albus inspected his dormitory in the morning feeling rather excited, school had just started and he was sure this year would be unforgettable. He got up and started to dress himself for classes, as he did thoughts drifted into his mind, he would love to be chosen as champion for Hogwarts but he was sure his mother would kill him if he put his name in the cup, she would probably freak when she found out they would be hosting the Tournament in Hogwarts. He didn't know what kind of reaction to expect from his father though. Would he be happy? Would he be concerned? Would he approve of James wanting to be in it? Albus might have to owl home to bring them the news, otherwise Lily would do it and then he could be almost sure his mother would pull them out of school to make sure none of them did anything stupid. Lily had a way of exaggerating things…

He was in his robes and had just given up trying to calm his messy hair when his brother woke up and started to look for his clothes and material lazily. James asked him to wait for him before leaving the common room for breakfast but Albus argued that if he did they might only get there by noon. He constantly wondered how James hadn't flunked any of his years at Hogwarts yet being it that he always got late to classes. He got to the common room to find it nearly empty, only a couple of students stood by the news board, and realized most people must already be in the Great Hall having an early start at the day. He remembered that he still had to get his schedule and then come back for his books before class, so he decided to make his way to breakfast too and just as he was opening the Fat Lady's portrait to leave someone inside called to him. He whirled around to see Lily, Rose and Carol crossing through couches and armchairs coming his way.

"Good morning!" his sister said in a cheerful tone. She seemed to have forgotten all about the argument they had last night or, and this seemed to suit Lily's behavior more, she was pretending it never happened and daring anyone to bring up the topic to deal with their consequences alone.

"Hello, looking awfully cheery today!" Albus greeted her "Been dreaming about Brad lately?" he said with a clever smile. Lily's face changed expression immediately as she heard Brad Pettidei's name, he was a Ravenclaw sixth year who happened to flirt a lot with her although she never replied to it, and her brothers used this as an excuse to tease her daily. He watched as her cheeks turned a bright red, like her hair, and her caramel eyes shot him a warning glance as she walked past him and out to the corridors.

"You should stop teasing your sister Al; she did nothing to provoke you." Rose stated as she too walked outside and headed to the Great Hall followed by her best friend, Albus sighed and ran to catch up with them. They reached the gryffindor table and sat together, the four of them started to talk animatedly about their new classes and subjects and how their N.E.W.T.s were just a year away. After about ten minutes James appeared and dumped himself next to Carol on the table.

"I am so sleepy" he said, and to prove it he let his head fall onto the brunette's shoulder and started to fake snore.

"Get off me Potter, I'm trying to eat my breakfast." She said trying to suppress a smile as he let his head fall into the plate of pancakes in front of him.

"Yew! Remind me not to eat those." Lily said making a face. "Hey-"she said suddenly worried "has anyone seen Hugo?"

"Nope!" James Potter replied as he began to pull chunks of breakfast out of his messy black hair. "Might have slept in, the poor thing was a mess yesterday!"

This did not comfort his sister in any way but he continued to clean his hair until he was satisfied then began to pile food on his plate. The group had just started to converse normally again when they heard a loud snap and the sound of something large falling against a student probably and a shriek of surprise come from outside. A second later Peeves flew past the door laughing his head off, and in entered Rose's brother with a nasty bump bulging on his forehead.

"What-"

"Don't ask about it!" he snapped in a grumpy tone to his sister who shrugged and continued to eat her oatmeal.

Then through the doors came a bunch of slytherins laughing loudly and looking smug, and with them was none other than Scorpius Malfoy bearing a smirk on his handsome face. Albus instantly looked at Caroline who in turn was stealing a glance at the slytherin, when she turned her attention back on the table she noticed Albus had seen her glance the other way, she turned a bright shade of pink. He was about to start questioning her as to why she had the sudden urge to look at Scorpio so early in the morning when he stopped himself and breathed in. "You promised you wouldn't argue about that nasty scum ball, he is not worth getting on Brooks bad side" he thought in his head. So he put on a grin and started teasing Rose and Lily in an attempt to pretend he hadn't seem what he'd just seen, Carol looked very glad indeed for his choice and she even smiled when he made silly jokes about Sprout's choice of hairstyle for the year.

But he just couldn't get around why Brooks was acting so strangely around Malfoy this year, because he was sure she didn't do so in previous times. All he knew was this was a fresh start of school so he planned to make the most of it, and he wasn't about to let a pesky slytherin get in his way.

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**_A/N: Hey fellow readers!_**

**_I'd just like to clear up something, I know in the books it doesn't say Rose has red hair but for this story she must be a red-head (for plot reasons), I hope you guys don't mind! _**

**_Also please review, I'd like to know what you think of the story so far! I'll take anything, good reviews, hate reviews even creepy reviews (Ok not creepy ones!) so please leave your ideas!_**

**_Love Mel_**


	4. Chapter 4- Partners

~.~ Partners ~.~

Albus finished eating his breakfast and waited along with the rest of the Gryffindor house to receive his timetable for the year from McGonagall. He was genuinely excited, this year he would be attending DADA, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithamancy and Ancient Runes. Unfortunately he still had to put up with potions, which was by far his worst subject, and professor Snervel who definitely had some serious issues with him. Potions class was also dreadful because it was one of the few classes they shared with the Slytherins and that made it all a hundred times worse, Snervel had a way of favoring his students (he was Head of the Slytherin House) and seemed to cultivate a forever lasting hate to all Gryffindors, especially the Potters, and putting up with his sarcasm was not Albus' favorite hobby. But even having to endure double potions in the end of the afternoon did not dampen his spirits, he headed back to his dorm and picked up his Transfiguration and Ancient Runes books and went to class.

Once he took his usual place in the middle of the classroom he relaxed and observed his friends as he waited for McGonagall to arrive. Students filed in and filled up the classroom, James sat at the back and started to enchant pieces of parchments to fold up like planes and fly around the room in formation sweeping and taking dives, causing some students to laugh and others to take cover. His red-haired cousin arrived minutes later talking happily with Brooks; they sat themselves on the other side of the room while pulling out their books and material and ignoring the passing paper planes that flew over their heads. Finally their professor came in and shut the doors with her wand, blocking all the sounds from outside and with another swish of her wand ridding herself of James' planes. She then announced that today they would be practicing how to turn their quill into a flower. A hand shot up at the back of the class.

"Any flower dear as long as it doesn't write." she told the blond girl.

McGonagall made it very clear how important it was to concentrate as turning something that is "dead", such as their quills, into something that was "alive", a flower, was exceptionally hard. She demonstrated, and then after they made quick notes she let them try it out. The boy worked with persistence and focus and by the end of the class he managed to make his quill into a blooming honeysuckle which looked very charming indeed. James who had an inexplicable talent for Transfiguration managed to turn his into a carnation in the first five minutes of class then spent the rest of his time trying to poke Peter Johnson in the back of the head with his wand without McGonagall noticing. Rose only got her quill grow a couple of leaves and a stem, leaving an awkward amount of feather at the top. Carol with a certain amount of effort made hers turn into a beautiful narcissus, and was trying to hide a smile of accomplishment from her face so that her friend wouldn't become upset.

Class was dismissed and all sixth years left the room in a hurry to get to their next class. Seeing as Albus was the only one of his friends who took Ancient Runes he parted with them on the second floor corridor and continued his path alone up a marble stair case, then left at the portrait of a fat wizard poking a tree stump with his wand and he found himself in front of the right room. He went inside to watch class and after taking notes he began to work on his first translation until lunch time arrived. He packed his materials and left heading for the Great Hall.

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Carol had just left Care Of Magical Creatures and was heading starving to the Great Hall. Hagrid had taken them into the Forbidden Forest (why it was called forbidden she had no idea since they were constantly being dragged into it for classes) to show them the tiny fairies that lived in the hollow pine trees, called Alfa Pinus, but unfortunately for them the fairies didn't seem to be in the mood to show up. So that meant they had spent a whole lesson just walking through the forest sticking their hands in hollow pines trying to lure the Alfae outside while they stubbornly remained in hiding. She had no idea why she still attended Care Of Magical Creatures, she did like magical creatures and learning about them but sometimes Hagrid went too far in his attempts to make an interesting lesson. Like last year when she spent two days in the hospital wing, from which Madam Pomfrey forbid her to leave, because she'd been stung by a Fire-Beetle and her face had swollen to twice its normal size. Plus none of her friends took this lesson anymore they all had given up at some point, so she was left of all alone to endure these dangerous classes.

Sighing she pulled her long brown hair, which was clinging to her neck with sweat, into a messy bun just as she bumped into James and Rose who were having an intense conversation about the essay professor Sprout had just given them. James was outraged, in his point view teachers should be prohibited from giving students homework, let alone two sheet of parchment on the medical uses of Screaming Berries, on their first day back to school. Both girls laughed as he went on about if he was Headmaster he would never let such thing happen, and he started listing things he would change at Hogwarts criticizing Bourbon in all aspects. When he started talking about how he would remove the charm on the girl's dorm staircases Carol said she didn't think he would go for such an academic career, staying in school for the rest of his life and disciplining young trouble-makers, James stopped midway down the stairs and feigned a look of intense pondering before announcing loudly he was giving up on his post as Headmaster to pursue a career in professional quidditch. By the time they reached the Great Hall the three of them were laughing so much they drew many attentive eyes from other tables in their direction.

They ate a quick lunch, accompanied by Lily and Albus who were already at the table when they arrived, and went back to their common room to pick up their potions book seeing as it was their last class of the day. James had a free period, since he'd convinced his parents to let him drop potions, and was planning to use it at the library "doing his homework". But he didn't fool his friends; they knew he was only putting up with Madam Pince for the afternoon because he wanted to see Julia Verne, a Ravenclaw fifth year with long black hair and cold blues eyes who never gave him a second glance, to try to convince her to go out with him. So Rose, Carol and Albus left the common room a few minutes later and made their way to the dungeons. As they were passing the library doors James' head appeared and he beckoned his brother inside with urgency, while turning around to check if the librarian was still distracted.

"What do you want James?" Albus said irritated. "You're going to make me late for class!"

"I need you for a moment it's really important!" he emphasized "It'll be quick I promise, you ladies can go ahead if you want." James told the girls and after giving him a reproving look Carol pulled her redheaded friend through the corridor once more leaving Albus behind.

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They simply hadn't invented a word yet to describe James Potter well enough. Albus had tried real hard, he even thought of a few words that would've made his grandmother wash his mouth with soap for a month. As he ran down the deserted corridors late for Snervel's class he cursed his brother countless times under his breath. He knew as soon as he approached the dungeons the professor would make sure to humiliate him in front of the class, the professor would try to dock fifty points off Gryffindor (sixty if he was feeling lucky) just to make him mad. Why hadn't James waited until dinner to talk to him? He could have been saved of this embarrassment and would have completed his goal to have a perfect first day if his brother had a little consideration. That lead him to remember what James had told him in an urgent and hushed tone which, even though was not on the top of his priorities list, was troubling him a great deal.

He reached the door to class and summoning all his Gryffindor courage he knocked on the door and opened it walking in. The whole class was standing up and the teacher was walking in front of them, explaining something probably, but as the boy walked in all heads turned to him. Brooks and his cousin looked at him with relief which they tried to hide with a mask of annoyance for his lateness, and the Slytherins were all sniggering, undoubtedly making spiteful comments about him.

Snervel turned to glare at him, he was nothing like any of the past potions masters Hogwarts had seen, and he resembled nothing Snape or Slughorn in appearances. He had caramel colored hair which he always kept clean and shiny, his eyes were golden and at the moment sparked with a wicked gleam, and his build was of an athlete who was at the top of his career. Some girls, mostly Slytherins, would daydream and swoon over him as if he were some sort of prince charming, but he wasn't. He was mean, nasty and full of himself and would go out of his way to make unlucky students lives miserable, although he liked to show his privileged and talented kids as trophies to all the school.

"So, Mr. Potter I take it you've decided to bless us with your presence this afternoon. May I ask where you have been spending the first ten minutes of my class? I am sure your colleagues would love to know what excuse you have for being late." Snervel said in his charming deep voice, although his cruel eyes showed his true intentions.

He was about to respond very harshly to that comment, and probably land himself in detention for the next few weeks, when he caught a pair of kind in the crowd behind Snervel. Rose stared at him with a warning; **don't-do-anything-stupid**, she pleaded. He sighed and made a mental note to thank his cousin later for preventing his rage from making a mess of him in class; he looked up at his teacher and said in a very controlled voice.

"I'm sorry for my tardiness sir, I was at the library and lost track of time." Not a complete lie, not the entire truth.

"I see," his professor replied in a cautious tone "maybe it would be wise to buy a watch Potter so that you can prevent these kinds of accidents. As a reminder that punctuality is a prized virtue I will be forced" a pleasure filled grin spreading through his handsome face "to take twenty points from Gryffindor."

Albus nodded trying to keep his anger in check and joined the other students who were standing in a cluster at the middle of the classroom. Brooks looked at him with her warm brown eyes and he couldn't quite decipher what her intensity meant, but before he could ask Snervel began talking and he was forced to look at him instead.

"So as I was saying before we were… interrupted, this year you will be working with as pairs for all assignments and homework, this will be a permanent arrangement until the end of your sixth year, and before you all jump excitedly to join your best friends know that I have already picked out who you will be working with." He finished, earning a few disappointed looks in the group from which some students were already trying to sort out their own partner.

The man walked up to the front of the room, opened a drawer of his polished desk and pulled out a piece of parchment from which he began to read out loud the names of the students who would be working together. The fourth pair was announced and sitting together when he earned a few shocked expressions to his next arrangement, whispers broke out when he called out (Slytherin) Anna Leverdeen and (Gryffindor) Frank Waters' names, and Rose decided to ask what everyone else was thinking "You're pairing Gryffindors with Slytherins as well?".

"Yes Ms. Weasley" he said in an irritated tone. "Is there any problem?"

"What about assignments and homework and all that? How are we supposed to work together?" she inquired baffled.

"Well you can meet up at the library in your spare time and work then, or make the best of your lesson time." He said lazily, without understanding her true worry. Many students eyed each other with a nervous expression set in their faces.

He continued to read along, Albus was deeply concerned that he might be put with a Slytherin. He was already terrible at potions without having to endure a nasty snake by his side all year bickering and fighting, and he couldn't afford to flunk this subject.

"Albus Potter and Rose Weasley…" Snervel read uninterested. Rose looked at her cousin a smile beaming on her face which he responded to with a wide grin. Beside the redhead Carol was twisting locks of her hair with her delicate fingers like she did when she was nervous. Finally Snervel announced:

"Last but not least…" he said a smile of pure satisfaction gracing his face "Caroline Brooks and Scorpius Malfoy."

And though no one else paid much attention to this last pairing Albus' eyes landed immediately on both of them as the brunette sat next to Malfoy, his grey eyes almost silver as he looked at her. That's what got him mad at once, the way Malfoy looked at Brooks was unsettling; she sat next to him and said something Albus couldn't hear and Scorpius smirked at her, a true Slytherin smirk. Potter found himself with the urge to punch the smirk off the blonde's face before he grabbed a hold of himself and counted to ten in his head trying to calm his nerves.

"Albus," Rose asked uncertainly "is everything ok?"

"Peachy, just peachy." He snapped. "Why?"

"Your face is as red as a tomato." His cousin stated looking at him with a growing curiosity.

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_**A/N: I would like to thank all you lovely readers for putting up with me once more and I would like to personally thank ****EmiSemi**** for being the first person to favorite this story (Yay!)! I would also like to remind you guys that I immensely appreciate reviews (they make me smile like an idiot!) so I if you take your time to leave me one I will be in eternal debt to you…**_

_**Kisses Mel**_


	5. Chapter 5- Library Brawl

~.~ Library Brawl ~.~

Carol was walking back to the Gryffindor common room after a long day of classes, her hair was up in a ponytail and she kept twirling the end of it absentmindedly. She was exhausted from a long day of lessons and was looking forward to reaching her common room so she could relax for a change, after all it was Friday and she had spent most of her week dedicated to her schoolwork.

It had been two weeks since they had started lessons and the thrill of coming back to Hogwarts had been promptly replaced with the rush to hand in homework and spend more time studying all her new subjects. Caroline was only managing to cope with all her workload because she had a very organized mind, she never left her notes untidy or lost her homework and she was always paying attention to class. Her colleagues were having a harder time; they were completely overwhelmed with all the work they had to do and were barely able to hand in their exercise sheets every week.

The brunette thought about how tense her best friend was with school, and she felt the sudden need to laugh as she remembered last night's events. Rose had been sitting in the common room finishing her Herbology homework, which was due the next day, while a couple of second years were discussing quidditch very loudly beside her, it didn't a take a genius to figure out how wrong that could turn out. Lily Potter nearly pulled out her hair in stress as her cousin started an argument with both younger students, and as the fight got more heated she was forced to give the redhead detention along with the other two quidditch fans. That was where Rose Weasley probably found herself this instant, and Carol was dying to hear how her detention worked out, in the comfort of her dorm, apparently she had to spend the afternoon with Madam Pince helping her reorganize entire book shelves.

She was so deeply immersed in her thoughts that when a very strong hand gently placed itself on her shoulder she leapt in fright, then she whirled around to find out who that hand belonged to. Grey eyes, blond hair, green tie and a trademark smirk.

"What's got you so jumpy Brooks?" Scorpius drawled in his usual manner.

She glared at him, but not with the same intensity she might have a year ago. This time her brown eyes were softer on him, they spoke a silent plea. They pleaded that he would come to his senses and drop his mask, that he would ditch this little game he was forcing her to play, because she was tired of pretending things were like they used to be a year ago. She'd learned something about him, something that changed her point of view of him completely. Malfoy had confided in her, he'd told her something he never told anyone else. It was a secret she now kept with her. Were they friends? She didn't know yet, but their relationship was definitely not the same as it was before.

"I'm not jumpy! It's not my fault you insist on sneaking around the corridors like some sort of ninja, trying to scare the shit out of me!" she huffed, rolling her eyes.

"What's a ninja?" he said in a moment of distraction, he looked genuinely curious and seemed to forget he was supposed to be mean to her. Carol smiled, and he saw a bright spark light her eyes, and for a moment longer he stared at her with warmth. Then he remembered who he was, or at least who people told him he was supposed to be. Malfoys aren't supposed to look at Gryffindors with warmth; they aren't supposed to look at mudbloods, like the girl in front of him, with anything less then a sneer, at least not in public. So he recomposed himself and shot a look of disdain. The disappointment that took over her face was so cruel to watch he almost gave in, but he didn't. He couldn't.

"Where are you heading?" he snapped with authority, trying to keep his pose as a group of Hufflepuffs passed them in the nearly empty corridor.

"I don't think it is of your concern." Caroline cut him off; she turned on her heels and started walking away. He was taken back for a few seconds; he hadn't expected her to react like that. Then again this act he insisted they put together wasn't pleasing her very much, and he knew it was only a matter of time before she decided he wasn't worth the effort and went back to treating him like she used to. And he couldn't let that happen, not now that he'd found someone he could trust, someone who understood his situation. So he decided that for today he would swallow his pride.

"Hey, wait up!" Malfoy yelled as he ran after her down the hall. She turned and faced him, her anger seemed real enough. She most certainly wasn't acting this time.

"What Malfoy?" she poured in his name all the disgust she could find.

He flinched when he saw the annoyance in her face; he was stunned for a moment then he remembered why he came to speak to her in the first place. "We have potions on Monday and Snervel just told me he's going to test the class on Polyjuice potion, you know the one we researched." he lowered his voice to barely a whisper.

"Why would he tell you?" She asked puzzled.

"I'm his favorite student and best potion-maker in our class." He replied as if it was obvious.

"And you're telling me this because…" Carol inquired, pulling a fake confused look. Truth was she knew what he meant to say, and Scorpius knew she knew what he was meaning to say too. But she wanted him to say it for the heck of it, just so she could prove he could be nice when he wanted to. He rolled his grey eyes at her.

"I'm surprised you're considered smart by most of our teachers Brooks." he said in a teasing tone." If I remember correctly you were having a hard time understanding the basics of the Polyjuice Potion last class," he paused to see her reaction, it was slightly irritated. "would like to go to the library so I can help you study?" he finished in a barely audible mumble.

She suppressed a victory smile; "Sure" and the gryffindor began walking towards the library with Malfoy at her heel. She completely forgot how tired she was, or how it was Friday and she was supposed to be relaxing on her bed before dinner and not diving into more schoolwork. All she could think about was the joy coursing through her veins, she had made a breakthrough with Malfoy, and that proved she could accomplish what she promised him.

Little did she know that going to the library to study with Malfoy was about the worse thing she could've done that day. She was also oblivious to the fact that, twenty minutes from now, she would be yelling at the top of her lungs at a boy, a boy she yelled at a lot these past five years.

What you don't know can't hurt you, right?

Wrong…

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Rose was going through the easiest detention she'd ever thought possible, all she had to do was sort out books that had been put in the wrong section and leave them in their proper place. For other people it might have been boring or difficult to find their way through the library but not for Rose, she knew this place like the back of her hand. Every nook, corner and every shelf that made this place she was completely familiar with, she spent a lot of her time at the library.

It also gave her a lot of time to think, something she couldn't do all the time because people were constantly interrupting her. It was good to spend some time somewhere you loved just immersed in your own thoughts; she was considering getting into detention more often until an image of her mother's angry face popped up in her head scolding her for even thinking something of the sort, and she let out a silent laugh to herself.

The redhead was just going through a couple of Herbology books some Ravenclaws had left unorganized on top of a table before hastily leaving when she saw something that struck her as odd, definitely odd. Her best friend was walking into the library (ok that part wasn't weird, Carol practically lived in the library) with Scorpius Malfoy at her side smirking like he usually did (behold the weird part). At first Rose was so shocked at the sight of them together that she dropped the books she'd been holding on the table and the noise caught the pair's attention. But by the time they went to check out what had made the sound the redhead was nowhere near the crime scene.

Thanking her familiarity with the countless book shelves and her fast running, she hid behind the Magical Creatures section while she unashamedly spied on her best friend and her family's pronounced enemy, through a crack in between two books. She observed as Carol sat at one of the unoccupied tables while Malfoy searched a shelf for a specific book, when he'd found it he sat beside her and they began studying. They weren't doing much except read and take notes which left her bewildered for a while. That was when Rose remembered, they were potions partners, so they were obviously preparing something for class or going over homework. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding, for a moment she thought her friend had gone nuts and decided to befriend the enemy.

Not that Rose considered Malfoy her enemy, but the animosity between their families was enough to make sure she steered clear away from him, she knew he was trouble. Was he evil? She didn't think so, although he was undeniably mean, rude and a bully she never thought of him as capable of hurting anyone or of inflicting physical pain to a fly. He most definitely wasn't a "Death Eater", and he most definitely wasn't his father, no matter the great resemblance he carried. The ginger would never tell anyone in her family this though, they might think she'd been _confunded_ or worse they might think she actually liked him, and that would be bad. That would be really bad.

She was about to go back to her detention duties and forget she had even seen them when something caught her eye, coming through the library door was none other than her dear cousin Albus. _Why was he at the library at a Friday afternoon? He never showed up at the library! What a great timing… _

"Oh dear, this is going to go so terribly wrong…" she muttered to herself. Rose stood between two choices, stand aside and let it happen without interference (not getting involved would be great), or trying to prevent a horrible confusion she knew was about to unfold.

She knew her cousin wouldn't understand Carol's intentions were just to study with Scorpius, he would take one look at them sitting together and he would explode, for two very obvious reasons. One- he hated Malfoy with all his heart and anyone he considered himself close to would never be caught dead talking to him, let alone sit in such proximity as Carol was; and Two- he was evidently developing a rather "protective" instinct towards Rose's best friend.

She weighed the odds of this intervention backfiring on her, they were pretty big. She took a deep breath, put down the books she was supposed to be arranging and strutted confidently towards the black haired boy, cursing her nasty habit of meddling.

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Carol sat in her four-poster bed hugging her knees and crying. She cried so hard her eyes were red and her face was worn out, her usually pretty long hair was a mess and she was emotionally unstable. Sometimes she wanted to cry until there wasn't a single tear left inside of her to shed, sometimes she just felt like screaming and breaking half her dorm room to let her rage out of her body, because it was starting to suffocate her. It's not like any of her dorm mates knew this though, she'd quickly ditched all of them and successfully managed to achieve loneliness. As she was gifted in charms Caroline put up a quick silencing and obscuring spell and closed her curtains so she could enjoy her emotion outbursts in peace.

Truth be said she wasn't sure why she was even crying, if anything she should be ripping Albus' head of his shoulders right now for being such a prick, not sobbing away her distress alone on her bed late at night. Since tomorrow was Saturday it didn't really matter if she got no sleep, she could just use it as an excuse to lie in bed all day, and avoid having to speak to anyone. She couldn't trust herself not to breakdown the instant she left her secure little nest and dived head first into the real world.

She should have known getting involved with Malfoy would only bring her trouble. But as surprising as it was he wasn't the one who was making her cry this instant, of course it was his fault she ended up in this position anyway, but she couldn't bring herself to blame him. It was all stupid Potter's fault, again. They had their fair share of fights during the years she'd been at Hogwarts, but something about their last one had been… damaging. More than usual, it affected her more than she thought possible, and that scared her. After all why did she care if he really thought that of her?

And even though Carol had been trying to forget the event, for the whole night, as an explosion of rage took control of her, the memories of the late afternoon flooded her mind.

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Caroline had been sitting beside Malfoy as he held the potions book and tried to explain to her the process of making the Polyjuice potion, but it was no use, she simply couldn't retain the information. She didn't tell him this though, she was so glad he was actually trying to help her out that she tried her very best to pay attention. As she took notes about what he was saying she could swear she saw a pair of hazel eyes spying on her through a bookshelf, but just as she was about to take a deeper look they seemingly disappeared. So convincing herself it was just her imagination Carol went back to listening to Scorpius' advice on how to chop the first ten ingredients for the batch.

As she picked up the book to take a closer look at a picture she heard some muffled talking coming from behind the eye-less bookshelf. At first she thought she was going mad, but a second later she noticed Malfoy had heard it too, he was eyeing the shelf suspiciously and was about to stand up to check out what was happening when they heard an enraged voice yell from behind it.

"She is sitting with Mal-"and the voice was silenced again. By the strange sounds that followed it was presumed that the owner of the voice had just had his face shoved into a book. The brunette shared a quick look with Scorpius and he nodded, they stood up to investigate what was going on, it didn't take long to find out. As soon as they rounded the shelf they came face to face with a scene that would have been hilarious in another circumstance. Albus was having his face smashed into a _"Magical Weeds and their Wonders"_ book by his redheaded cousin who was muttering in his ear.

"Shut up! Leave them alone, they're just studying. _Just studying!_"

She stopped midway when she glimpsed up and saw that both Caroline and Scorpius were staring at her with a puzzled look on their faces. In her moment of distraction the black haired boy managed to escape her strong grasp and retrieved his face from pages 345 and 346, he opened his mouth to say something to Rose when he saw her face properly. He turned to see what she was looking at and when he found out his mouth hanged open for few brief seconds. The four of them just looked at each other with a mix of expressions; none of them were sure what to say. Malfoy broke the silence first, his face twisted into a mocking smile.

"Potter what are you doing here with your head inside a book? Didn't you learn by now it's useless? You'll never get anything inside that brain of yours!"

"Malfoy we better get back to-"Carol tried feebly to pull him away from the green eyed boy who now stared at her in pure disbelief.

"Why are you even talking to that git?" he exclaimed "I thought you knew better then to befriend evil little cockroaches like him!" Albus finished pointing an accusatory finger at the blond boy, whose face changed from teasing to hard as stone.

"Albus!" Rose scolded him.

"What did you just say?" Scorpius asked in a cold but firm tone, he looked at the other boy with such intensity it was amazing his eyes hadn't make holes in Albus' head.

"I said," Potter stated angrily "that I thought Brooks knew better than to get involved with a slimy leech such as yourself!"

"You will not talk to him like that!" Caroline yelled standing in front of Malfoy instinctively "He did nothing to provoke you; we were just studying together in the library quietly."

"Yes, the library" Rose said calmly trying to prevent the situation from worsening "the place where you're required to be quiet, the place we're still standing in." she emphasized.

Ignoring completely his cousin's comment Albus looked at the Brooks, as if she were a naïve little girl. "You know those are not his intentions. Nothing good can come from his family; they're all disgusting little Death Eater parasites! "

If Scorpius had ever been close to letting all his bottled up fury out in his life now was certainly the time, "You will not speak a word of my family Potter. You will not use your filthy mouth to say a word against them!"

"Boys, please let's try to be reasonable and break this up now." Rose said in a tone full of authority, and for a moment it worked. Both boys seemed to take a deep breath and simmer down. Madam Pince appeared around the corner and asked in a very annoyed voice "What's all this shouting in my library?"

"It's nothing," Scorpius told her, calm in a way that seemed impossible after his yelling minutes before. "Let's just get back to our books." He said to Carol, and he put an arm around her to lead her back to the table they had been sitting in previously.

"How can you be so low, as to the point you actually let him touch you?" Albus asked, his voice bitter and hard and it cut through Caroline like a dagger, she hesitated. "He goes around talking shit about mudbloods and you still have the audacity to let him come near you."

Malfoy eyed him with fury again, but this time it wasn't because he'd felt offended by boy, it was because he was insulting Carol. He was about to give Potter some suggestions as to where he could shove his demented ideas when Brooks spoke in a soft voice, that showed just how hurt she was, but inflicted at the same time a lot of devastation into Albus.

"You know all this time I've spent with Malfoy at classes, studying and so forth he never once mentioned that word, let alone called me it. He was never rude, he never hurt me." Her brown eyes looked shattered and pained but they were firm and as she spoke she poured every bit of emotion she could rummage into her words. "You consider yourself a hero, yet you've have just managed to do much more harm to me with nothing more than simple words. You're the one who's damaging me." She shook her head as his green eyes searched her brown ones; he opened his mouth desperately trying to fix his mistake, to take back all his hateful words. Only it was too late.

Caroline Brooks turned her face to hide her watery eyes, then shaking off Scorpius' arm, that was still around her shoulder, she turned and left the library tears already spilling rolling down her cheeks.

_~.~_

* * *

Finally after a lot of trembling in the dark, a lot of screaming and crying Carol felt too psychologically exhausted to stay awake, she fell on her back and drifted off to an uneasy sleep. Little did she know that in the boy's dorms Albus Potter was still twisting and turning in bed, unable to sleep at all with all the guilt that consumed him. Her words still echoed in his head.

"_You're the one who's damaging me."_

* * *

(TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT) (TWT)

**A/N: Hey! Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, I certainly loved writing it. I love exploring characters emotions, which I did unashamedly. Please review and give me your thoughts. From the next chapter on things will be picking up a pace in the plot, but it might take some more time for me to upload. **

_**Mel **_


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